Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Marine Nationale — Submarine

French submarine Poncelet

Redoutable-class submarine

French submarine Poncelet
Marius Bar — Ajax — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate Sous marin français Ajax, de la classe Redoutable.

Service

  1. Marine Nationale as Poncelet1 September 1932 — 7 November 1940433 days of the war
Redoutable-class submarine Particulars
Name
Poncelet
Namesake
Jean-Victor Poncelet (1788–1867), French engineer and mathematician
Builder
Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient, France
Laid down
3 March 1927
Launched
10 April 1929
Commissioned
1 September 1932
Fate
Scuttled 7 November 1940 (1940)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,547 long tons (1,572 t)
Displacement, submerged
2,059 long tons (2,092 t)
Length
92.3 m (302.8 ft)
Beam
8.1 m (26.6 ft)
Draught
4.4 m (14.4 ft)
Speed
17.5 knots (32.4 km/h, 20.1 mph)
Range
14,000 nmi (25,928 km)
Complement
5
Main gun
100 mm (3.9 in)

Poncelet was a Redoutable-class submarine of the Marine Nationale. The ship was named after Jean-Victor Poncelet. Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient, France laid her keel on 3 March 1927. Launched on 10 April 1929, she entered service on 1 September 1932.

29 ships of the class were built.

The boat displaced 1,547 long tons surfaced and 2,059 long tons submerged. She measured 92.3 m (303 ft) long with a beam of 8.1 m (27 ft). Her designed speed was 17.5 knots, and she carried a complement of 5.

Her main battery was one 100 mm (3.9 in) guns.

She was in commission for 433 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 7 November 1940, at 0°20′S 8°50′E. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 2 × diesel engines, 6000 hp
  • 2 × electric motors, 2250 hp
Armament
  • 11 torpedo tubes
  • 1 × 100 mm gun
  • 1 × 13.2 mm machine gun

Sister ships

4 more in the class

Sources